“Do you have a sense of how many others think the same thing?” Dash asked.
“Most do not,” Thomas said. “River was new to town. We’ve talked to a lot of ghosts and explained why it’s important not to draw attention to ourselves. Word is spreading. Gary is still the problem. Not only won’t he listen, he’s still inviting more spirits to come to Oriskany Falls.”
Which was abigproblem. Slate couldn’t keep ‘demonstrating’ new effects every time Gary did something crazy. And with more ghosts arriving daily, the odds of him inspiring one or more of them to be demonstrative were growing.
“If he won’t listen and won’t stop, what do we do?” Meredith asked.
Despite the mood, Slate smiled. Meredith had been here a day and she already had on her big hat. Unfortunately, it didn’t have the same effect it had the day before. Dash glanced at Slate with his “I told you so” face. If Dash hadn’t looked unhappy, Slate would have been irritated, but his boyfriend didn’t want to be right.
“We could bind Gary,” Clifford said, interrupting Slate’s thoughts.
The three ghosts beside Slate went still. Binding was one of the two “B” words spirits never wanted to hear.
“Bind him?” Oliver asked, looking from Thomas to Slate.
“Just to make him listen,” Clifford said. “Explain what’s at stake.”
“You mean cage him,” Cain said. His voice left no doubt what he thought of Clifford’s suggestion.
“We don’t want to,” Dash said, too quickly. “But if he won’t stop?—”
“He hasn’t hurt anyone, man,” Cain said. “Maybe you should, like, talk to him again.”
“We’ve tried multiple times.” Thomas stared at his new friend. “You know he only hears what he wants to hear.”
“So your solution is to imprison him?” Cain kept his gaze on Thomas. “That’s your big plan?”
Slate didn’t want to tell Cain that this wasn’t the big “B.” If talking to him failed, his father was going to push to banish Gary. “It isn’t meant to be an imprisonment. We just need to make him understand.”
“And what if after you talk to him he doesn’t care?” Morten asked. “What if he’s angry you bound him and doesn’t want to listen?”
The question hung in the air, and Dash avoided his grandfather’s gaze.
“At a minimum, he’d continue to be a nuisance.” His mother locked eyes with Slate. “At worst, he’d ramp up his antics. An angry Gary is worse than an oblivious one.”
Slate tried to be optimistic and had tried not to think that far ahead. His mother, however, was right. If Gary turned angry, they’d have two choices: contain him forever, or banish him. Eternal imprisonment sounded unpleasant, but no one knew what happened to banished souls. Did they cross over and have a peaceful ever after, or was it a form of Hell? Ghosts were right to fear such a fate.
“Should we give him free rein and let him do whatever he likes until we can’t explain it away?” Dash asked, sweeping his attention around the room. “That’s not a plan, that’s sticking our heads in the sand.”
“Your grandfather’s not suggesting that, Dash,” Millicent said carefully. “He’s pointing out that binding him might not be enough.”
Slate refused to meet his father’s or Morten’s gaze. He knew they were right; he wasn’t sure he had the stomach to do what they suggested.
“You’re talking about banishment,” Cain said. “That’s what you’re really planning, isn’t it?”
“No,” Slate said immediately. “I’m hoping that he’ll listen. I don’t want to banish Gary, but?—”
“But what?” Cain challenged. “He has to do exactly what you want or else?”
“He has to stop putting everything we worked for at risk.” Dash stared at Cain as if daring him to object.
“This isn’t what anyone wants,” Liv said. Her voice was gentle but firm. “But one ghost shouldn’t get to ruin something for countless others. The portal helps spirits cross over. Gary’s party could destroy that.”
“She’s right,” Thomas said quietly. Oliver looked at him, but Thomas didn’t back down. “I don’t like it either. But is one party worth more than the portal?”
Cain turned away, facing the fireplace.
“There has to be another way,” Oliver said.
